U.S. Urges Worldwide Guerrilla Alert

Updated 9:30 AM ET

August 5, 1999WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has renewed a warning to its citizens worldwide to stay alert ahead of the first anniversary Saturday of U.S. embassy bombings in Africa that killed at least 226 people.

"Americans should keep a low profile, vary routes and times for all required travel, and treat mail from unfamiliar sources with caution," the State Department said in a "worldwide caution" Wednesday night. The department said the warning, to update a nearly identical one put out June 10, was to emphasize its concern for Americans' security overseas, not in response to a specific threat or event.

Still, it cited the possibility that guerrillas "may take actions against Americans and American interests" to mark the Aug. 7, 1998, blasts at the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

It also noted the coming first anniversary of the August 20 retaliatory U.S. strikes against "terrorist" targets in Afghanistan and Sudan.

The State Department said it continued to receive "reports that prompt concern about the safety and security of both official U.S. government personnel and private American citizens."

The notice referred by name only to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, indicted by a New York grand jury along with 16 alleged associates in the East Africa embassy blasts.

Bin Laden has dodged a U.S. dragnet by remaining in parts of Afghanistan controlled by the fundamentalist Taliban militia, U.S. officials say.

Bin Laden and others, the department added, "continue their threats against the United States and have not distinguished between military and civ

-- Forum Regular (he@ds.up), August 05, 1999